Customer Reviews

Supergirl (International Version) [VHS]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(14)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

....it was good for Warner Bros. to finally release Supergirl under its own label, after being previously released by Anchor Bay. Interesting, seeing as WB abandoned the film as a whole during its 1984 theatrical release.

The film is virtually the same transfer of the international version as used on the Anchor Bay release, along with the commentary track by Bosco and Szwarc. (Interestingly, WB uses the famed John Williams Superman theme on the menu screens, despite the theme not being used in the film.)

The film was one of the most underappreciated entries of 1984, but is really worth watching, and only in the famed "international version", and not in the heavily butchered theatrical version, which will hopefully never see the light of day on DVD ever. The film focuses heavily on fantasy aspects, with most of the Sci-fi aspects that made the whole Superman franchise.

All in all, this DVD as a whole allows WB to make amends for giving up on this film before it ever got out of the gate. Hopefully, WB can go in when we see the next round of DVD tie-ins in 09 when the next Superman movie comes out, and revisit this film and even give us the "Director's Cut" with a more wider release than the utterly expensive and limited edition that Anchor Bay gave us.

In lieu of the recent addition of Kara/Supergirl to the cast of Smallville and the fact that it's a spin-off of the Christopher Reeve Superman series, Supergirl is a keeper. Cheesy? YES. In fact, as were many superheroine portrayals in the 1980's, this would be one of the dingiest portrayals of a female superhero to date. And it's more of an attempted comedy than it was a superhero/action film. However, her interaction with the Superman poster, her rooming with Lois Lane's sister, the cameo appearance by Jimmy Olsen, and our first glance at the Phantom Zone make for a good addition to one's Superman collection. In fact, as cheesy as the movie was, the things that urked me more than the comic approach and stiff dialogue were: (1)how did the Kryptonian module find it's way into the lake, (2)where did the Supergirl outfit come from, and (3)how she was a brunette as Linda Lee and a blonde as Supergirl? Oh well...it's only fiction...a cheesy yet fun keeper.

I don't remember when I first heard about this film. But, it was at least at age five, a year after it was released to theaters. Apparently, most people didn't think much of it, because it was viewed historically as a commercial flop. A part of it may have been circumstantial, though. Supergirl production was started hot off the heals of the rap on Superman III, a film that performed abominably in the theaters. Pending who you asked, many people were starting to get burnt out on the Superman cannon, and they must've seen a teenage, female equivalent as a joke. If it had been produced and released in between Superman II and III, that might've had a more positive, circumstantial effect.

Here, Helen Slater stars in her first leading role as Kara, the Kryptonian cousin to Superman (official name of Kal-El) who left Krypton with her parents to live in the inner-space settlement of Argo City. At the film's start, her mentor Zaltar (Peter O'Toole), incidentally the city's forefather, makes a mistake that forces a key power source, an omegahendron) to disappear into outer space, necessitating Kara's swift departure to rescue it, Zaltar's lifelong expulsion into Phantom Zone and possibly resulting in the whole city's eventual degradation. The omegahendron surfaces on earth and, the little ball is snared by a narcissistic, pretentious and vindictive would-be witch named Solina (Faye Dunaway) and her jittery sister, Bianca.

When Kara surfaces on earth herself, she discovers she has unprecedented powers of flight, strength, hearing and mater manipulation. She uses an armband transmitter to detect the general location of the ball. Eventually, she manages to disguise herself to conceal her attire. Then, she passes as a student at a private university in a town called Midvale. She passes as Clark Kent's cousin, Linda Lee and forges a letter of recommendation from him. The headmaster places her with Lucy Lane, a sophomore who happens to be sister of Lois Lane and love interest of Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure reprising his Superman role). As a coincidence, their math teacher, a man named Nigel is also Solina's erstwhile instructor of black magic. He pursues her repeatedly, and she repeatedly rebuffs him.

Meanwhile, all the girls at the school (including Linda) lust after a big, muscular groundskeeper named Ethan. But, Bianca also catches his eye, as does Solina, who says he belongs to her. Using a cheap form of black magic, she seduces him and tries to make him fall for her. However, her magic goes badly awry, and his heart instead falls to Linda (after she changes to her true identity and saves him from physical danger). Back in her dorm, Linda is forced to do battle with Solina's evil magic (as Kara) and comes out of this bout unscathed. Then, she gets a signal from her transmitter that the omegahendron is functioning, and she tears off for the abandoned amusement park where the evil sisters reside.

And, who should be waiting for her but Ethan, spouting uncharacteristic love poetry and brandishing flowers & chocolates for Linda. The two are ambushed by the sisters, and Solina attempts to eliminate Linda, unsuccessfully. Linda is forced to change back into Kara and carry Ethan away to a distant lakeside. Solina eventually caves in and asks Nigel to help her eliminate Kara (whom she appropriately christens "Supergirl"). Nigel arrives at the park with a wand built for pure evil, which they use to lure Ethan back; Solina steals the wand, petrifies Nigel and creates a tall mountain with a castle on top in the exact middle of town. Supergirl arrives in the castle to rescue Ethan, only to find herself imprisoned in a diamond-shaped piece of glass, which then expels her to the Phantom Zone along with Zaltar. Meanwhile, she succeeds in subduing the whole community and seizing Lucy & Jimmy.

at first, she doesn't know where she is, but she knows she's lost her powers. When she and Zaltar come into contact with each other, Kara tries convincing him that they shouldn't let the Phantom Zone consume them and that if they don't try and escape, Argo City is finished and so is earth. She uses straightforward teenage irony to finally win him over, and they push off for a deadly vortex. If they can circumvent the perimeter of the vortex, they can get to a way out. However, with the aide of her magic mirror, Solina spies on Kara & Zaltar and tries summoning elements of the Zone to kill them. She succeeds in finishing Zaltar, who lets himself die so Kara can push through. This she does, regaining her earthly abilities and flying straight through Solina's mirror and into the castle. Supergirl manages to rescue Lucy, Jimmy & Nigel from the cages they've been sealed in and engages a battle with Solina's dark magic. With help from Ethan and Nigel, Supergirl not only overpowers the magic but manages to create a vortex and shunt Solina & Bianca through the broken mirror and into the Phantom Zone. Afterwards, things return to normal, and Kara is able to return to Argo City with the reclaimed omegahendron.

I for one thought the movie was well worth watching. I've actually watched it multiple times. It didn't include Christopher Reeve, Margot Kitter, Jackie Cooper or Gene Hackman, but that has very little to do with the quality of the film. It's an almost-completely new cast, and that does in fact add to the unacknowledged greatness of the film. It did go kind of far when the character of Ethan mentioned the fact that Supergirl [and Superman] could "leap tall buildings in a single bound." But, that was probably the only remotely inappropriate Superman reference in the finished product.

There are only two real problems I've ever had with this film, and neither one of them could make me change my rating. First, How does Kara find out that Superman's earth identity is Clark Kent? Also, could someone explain to me where Solina could possibly have learned about the Phantom Zone, let alone send Supergirl there or manage to manipulate its elements?

I have always had a soft spot for this campy spin off from the Superman series. An attempt at starting a seperate franchise (Reeve was balking at doing any more Superman movies), it tried to duplicate the formula, but lacked the budget and writing of the first two Superman films. Still it is great fun. Faye Dunaway is hysterical as Supergirl`s arch enemy. Helen Slater is bland as the girl of steel, but she is so darn cute that you don`t really mind. The plot is corny, the acting strictly comic book, and the most amazing special effect is the way that, no matter in what position Supergirl is flying or landing (including upside down!) her tiny red skirt remains demurely in place. Not high art, but fun and no worse than Superman 3 or IV, to be sure. Definitely worth a look, as long as you accept it for what it is.

SPOILERS FOLLOW

I like "Supergirl." Starring Helen Slater, Faye Dunaway, Brenda Vaccaro, Peter Cook, and Peter O'Toole, it's actually a fairly entertaining movie. Some of its most glaring shortcomings are some of the most obvious strengths of the early Christopher Reeve "Superman" movies(of which this is an indirect 1984 spinoff), but this movie is also able to stand on its own.

Opening on Argo City, the movie does a decent job of establishing a distinct look for a contained, peaceful world. Helen Slater is a good Kara Zor-El. The chemistry between Ms. Slater and Peter O'Toole powers the early scenes and sets up a vaguely interesting plot point. Mr. O'Toole plays Zaltar, a scientist and philosopher who is the custodian of the Omegahedron, a pulsating source of power for the planet. Even as a kid I knew that(SPOILER) the Omegahedron gets blown to Earth and Kara leaves to bring it back. I cannot help but compare this movie, in some respects, to the original "Superman" film. It actually begged comparison initially by usinng the famous John Williams "Superman" theme in U.S. movie trailers. This movie uses its own theme, a serviceable would-be epic from composer Jerry Goldsmith. Character differentiation between Kara and Supergirl is almost nonexistent, since the movie rushes to Supergirl and the audience is robbed of a satisfactory origin story we get in most comic book adaptations. Despite this, Helen Slater's performance itself stays consistently solid throughout the picture. The movie has a strong villainess in Faye Dunaway's witch Selena.

Some storytelling cheapness blows the high-minded theme of saving a world down a notch. The screenplay spends too much time on a romantic rivalry between Supergirl and Selena over a blue-collar worker named Ethan, played by Hart Bochner. I'm not necessarily saying the filmmakers needed to completely omit the idea, but more screentime for Peter Cook or Peter O'Toole would not have hurt the movie.

"Supergirl" also marks the first time the audience sees the inside of the Phantom Zone, a hellish land of exile only visualized as a floating mirror in the first "Superman" movie. Essentially a vast and dangerous black desert, the Phantom Zone sequence in this movie remains a durable high point.

I cannot give this movie an extremely low rating, frankly in part because the "Superman" movies it spun off from set such a high standard it would be arguably impossible to expect greatness from this film. This is still a very good movie, and deserves appreciation on its own merits.

I wouldn't dream of giving this 5 stars, though its one of those movies that just makes me happy, but not because of anything that it really does right, but it is at least fun. I know that a lot of people don't like this movie and can point out how stupid it is, and I am not going to say anything to disagree with them, but at least at no point does this movie try to take itself seriously. Cute Supergirl comes to earth and takes on a sorceress. Enough said. I would put this in the vain of the original Beastmaster. Its good to watch drunk when you come home from the bar alone.

I have to admit, it is a little lame.

I watched it once as a kid, and finally watched it again last night. I aleady knew it was a mediocre story with painfully corny characters and dialog. But what really struck me this time was the sheer uselessness of Supergirl.

Time after time, in every Supergirl scene, she proved her worthlessness. A rampaging truck tears through a town? Only Supergirl can stop it! But lets sit around and watch it first. We've got to let it destroy half the town before we do anything, at least!

(Hmmm... Some fire about to blow up the gas station? Think, Supergirl! Think HARD! "Uh, let's go destroy the town's water tower. That might help." No, Supergirl, no. You have freezing breath, remember? Ah, forget it.)

Or an invisible monster comes toward her, destroying everything in its path. Would have been kind of nice if she had stopped it before it tore up the lawn too bad, you know? Instead, she stand and stares at it. She's good at that, if anything. Standing and staring. Of course I don't mind looking at her, but still...

And then there's the times when the "cute dude" gets kidnapped and abused - again and again... Seems like it would be a good time for Supergirl to do something about it, right? She seems strangely inept for the job. When she finally does rescue him - from some evil bumper cars, no less - He immediately gets assaulted by a coconut. She even sees it coming! But instead of using her super speed, or even telling the guy "heads up!", she opts for standing by helplessly. While the nut hits him on the head, splitting his skull open and leaving him to die a slow, painful, lingering death- (Oops! My bad. Just dreamin' for a moment there. That particular actor survives this movie, unfortunately. He doesn't die until Hans Gruber shoots him in the first Die Hard, for which I am grateful. Thank you, Hans!)

I think you get my point, but I've got to mention the whole "walk into the enemy lair and get trapped in the phantom zone" routine, as if she couldn't have seen that coming! (Okay, to be fair maybe she couldn't. But I'm on a roll here!) But the final point was when she was getting threatened by the floor collapsing beneath her. Uh, hello? You're Supergirl? You can FLY, remember? Fly girl, fly!

Oh well. It was still nice at the end, when she finished off the bad guy with- what? A whirlwind? I didn't quite get that. But whatever. All's well that ended well. And an enjoyable popcorn flick it was.

I know others have already mentioned it, but Helen Slater is super-hot, for sure. I liked watching her, even if the script she was given was painful at times. Also, Faye Dunaway made for a great villain. And she was pretty darn hot, too. I would have liked being her "gardener boy" anytime.

Watch for Helen Slater also in "The Secret of My Success", another good 80's flick.


P.S. I couldn't help but wince when Supergirl delivered a "Super Kick" to the one guy... Say it with me, folks: "Ouch!"

This movie is not as bad as everyone would have you to believe...it's certainly no worse than Superman III. I haven't seen all the versions of this movie, though I hear that like Blade Runner whichever version you see changes your perceptions of the movie. I do completely think that Helen Slater nails this role and there are a few nods to the comic though not as many as you would hope. I wouldn't advise watching this if you want high art but if you have a few hours to kill and want something light-hearted than this is for you.

Some claim this is confusing and "incomprehensible". I find it be charming and fun. The whole clothes transformation thing was featured in the previous Superman movies. It's not an issue. The idea of other dimesions isn't confusing considering the Phantom Zone. I wasn't thrown by that. I wasn't confused at all while watching this on DVD. I was entertained. I was also impressed. Anchor Bay did a SUPER JOB on the limited 2 dvd set.

The 2 DVD set contains both the director's cut and the international version (far superior to the edited version released in the U.S. back in '84), tons of great extras, and an impressive booklet. The movie looks and sounds excellent. The director's commentary is also informative and entertaining. It's a nice package and a charming movie. Slater is perfectly cast. Dunaway is over-the-top. The flying effects are every bit as good as those in the earlier Superman movies (maybe better). There's also plenty of action, humor, and great old-school comic book moments. I enjoyed every second of Supergirl and every feature of the 2 DVD set from Anchor Bay.

Please see my review for this movie under the widescreen format for more detailed info. Don't buy this movie if you're looking for a great sci-fi classic. Buy it for exactly what it is; an addition to the Salkind Superman franchise. It is shot with the same feel and look of the Superman movies. That alone makes it worth owning. The story is bad and so are most of the FX. I still recommend it to any Superman fan. It won't make you turn it off!